12 Responses to “Peet’s Little House 1”

I saw the short first and didn’t enjoy it much, but when I came across the book a few months later, I loved it. A central effect in the book is that the house stays at the centre of a big changing landscape throughout the story. The point of view of the reader never changes until the house is moved. The size of the book is more generous than ‘Mike Mulligan’ and ‘Katy and the big snow’, the only other books I’ve seen so far by Virginia Lee Burton. The effect is like Robert Crumb’s later strip showing a landscape that becomes gradually more and more urban, also seen from a fixed point of view.

The point of the little house as a still centre in the midst of change seemed much undermined by the conventional approach to telling the story on film with loads of cuts and close-ups.

Much as I find the cartoon entertaining – though certainly not a favorite – I absolutely agree with you. I think the point was missed by moving the house. The book is great.

I have about five of Virginia Lee Burton’s books. They’re all gems.

It was tough adapting Mike Mulligan to animation – all the drawings featured such tiny figures, and the destruction of the earth to make better byways was not something I enjoyed animating. However, it was quite a rewarding film when it was done.

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